Traffic could become a thing of the past

Whenever I'm on the road, the one thing I absolutely hate to encounter is traffic. It looks like not only is Elon Musk planning to go to Mars and improve green energy, but now he wants to solve traffic as well. Elon's new company *The Boring Company* recently came out to explain what the use of their tunnel machine is for.

The article states that;

Musk’s vision includes parking spots that are actually elevator shaft entrances, where drivers can pull in and descend to the network below. Once underground, the car will travel along in a sled, merging with other tunnels and being integrated seamlessly into a network that includes other packets, all controlled by computer for maximum efficiency.

Unfortunately before you get your hopes up too high, the article reports that;

Musk said on stage at the event that he only really spends about two to three percent of his time on The Boring Company, which means this vision is still likely a very far-off one in terms of becoming a real thing people can actually use. But if Musk is good at one thing, it’s presenting a compelling vision for the future – and sometimes, he makes that vision a reality, too.

Personally, I am really hoping that this idea comes to fruition, as this could greatly improve big cities traffic issues. Granted it would take a massive overhaul of construction and research on the land, before any real work would be done. It could also be for only the elite, as it would be costly and involve heavy construction.

Questions:
1. Do you believe this will become a reality?
2. Are you excited for it, and would you use it?
3. How do you think the pricing will work?

Source:
Traffic possibly over with

Concept Video:

 
Best Response

Cars should be replaced by giant magnetic/hovering man-hole covers.

On a serious note, our desire to have personal freedom to travel wherever we wish is what makes our current situation difficult. It's inefficient because you can only fit so many people in a car and there's only so much room for vehicles on a highway (with a lot of the seats un-occupied).

The sacrifice will come in the future when people are more willing to part from their vehicles and use larger methods of transportation (say high capacity magnetic rail cars - 5 stories high and 5 bus widths across) to travel across a city to get to where they want to be. It'd be similar to the light rail systems some cities have but on a much much larger scale to accommodate the capacity.

Another idea would be to allow a vast network of automated magnetic rail cars that can merge/separate (horizontally and vertically) to form one massive transit vehicle based on the destination it is going to.

Otherwise, we'll move to double/triple stacked highways or there's always the futuristic idea of flying vehicles and air lanes to travel through stacked high above the metropolis.

If you find yourself feeling lost, go climb a mountain.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTPyhtBhdn6/

The kiss on the cheek is clearly evident. Just saw the pic now. Lol.

To rephrase Richard Branson: How do you become a millionaire? You earn a billion dollars, then date Amber Heard.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Traffic is a result of poor planning and suburbanization. That and humans being idiots when we drive. Self driving cars will reduce a lot of that and more people living in an urban environment will help as well.

Elon should focus on mars lol.

 

He did mention about 1-3% of his efforts would be placed on this project. You are right though, self driving cars would reduce a lot of the traffic.

Just an Undergrad trying to get a job. Something you disagree or dislike about my posts? Let me know by PM'ing me or commenting constructive criticism.
 

My two cents; traffic is the worst commuting in and then out of dense urban areas like NYC. Two issues come to mind: 1) underground tunnels...not to sound like a pessimist but the majority (if I remember correctly) of the infrastructure projects in my area (NYC, if you couldn't tell by my name) are way over-budget and way behind schedule. 2) Also, in NYC I'm pretty sure the bedrock is relatively shallow which means digging large underground tunnels will probably be more expensive and more difficult to bore a hole through than say the rich mineral clay of Texas. Good idea from Musk, as usual, but I just think certain cities are way better suited than others and also it will be a tough sell. With certain cities having certain pension underfunding do they really want to be leading the charge on expensive underground highways? Doubt it.

 

actually the bedrock in nyc is what makes us able to build such high skyscrapers. It does at the same time make it quite expensive to excavate tunnels for the second avenue subway and the like. If you follow the curves of the bedrook of "shallowness" you come to a realization that it mimics the nyc skyline. Meaning that there is a reason why bigger buildings are built in certain zones e.g. buildings boom in midtown and then slump in flatiron/chelsea/soho and regain their prominence in FiDi.

 

Traffic is a function of human faults...and maybe 10% road design.

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

If you ever worked in engineering or technology side, there's plenty of bugs and errors. The last thing I want to place trust in is a machine that I am not sure who or what is behind it, controlling the movements.

 
<span itemprop=name>AZConq</span>:

If you ever worked in engineering or technology side, there's plenty of bugs and errors. The last thing I want to place trust in is a machine that I am not sure who or what is behind it, controlling the movements.

If you ever worked on the human side, you would realise that there are more bugs and errors there than there are with machines.

 

I love Elon Musk. This idea, however, is politically impractical (expense, eminent domain issues, time), even if technologically possible. Self-driving cars will revolutionize transportation and traffic long before the completion of any of these tunnels.

Now, in countries like China that are centrally planned, cash rich, weak on property rights, and literally building new cities I could see something like Musk's idea being incorporated into city designs.

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<span itemprop=name>Dances with Dachshunds</span>:

I love Elon Musk. This idea, however, is politically impractical (expense, eminent domain issues, time), even if technologically possible. Self-driving cars will revolutionize transportation and traffic long before the completion of any of these tunnels.

Now, in countries like China that are centrally planned, cash rich, weak on property rights, and literally building new cities I could see something like Musk's idea being incorporated into city designs.

I'm not sure which specific eminent domain issues you're referring to, but Musk mentioned in his most recent Ted interview that the tunnels will be deep enough underground that they will be undetectable (using current technology) to people on the surface.

 

I'm not an expert on the situation, but a quick google search indicates that tunnels frequently require the taking of land by the government via eminent domain. I suspect these tunnels would obstruct a lot of existing underground infrastructure. Even if it only impacted a tiny few lots, those are the legal battles that could grind to a halt the entire operation. It only takes one house and one lawsuit to halt a project. I suspect that in China no such legal challenges would even be heard.

Array
 

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